Return to the Valley

In a few short weeks I will be returning to Death Valley with my Geology professor and fellow students. I am extremely excited to be able to return for my second chance to learn more about this amazing section of California. Death Valley in the minds of many, might be called a desolate or barren place. I would argue that that DV is far from those descriptions, and that what 'might appear' to be barren is far from it. A small stream on a long wooden walkway turns out to be the home of pup fish, rare and indigenous to DV. Varying colors on the distant mountains across the valley turn out to be beautiful layers of rock. It is a wondrous place of uplifted, folded and tilted rock. A place where sunrises cannot offer any additional color to the beauty of Mosaic Canyon or Artists Point. It is a place where one could sit alone for hours and never feel alone with the vast views for company. Each mountain has a story, and every rock on that mountain a memory from Earth's geologic past. I love Death Valley, and I look forward to being enchanted once again!